India is a country where “SPORTS” hold a special place in the hearts of the people. There are many sports being played in India with full dedication and determination. India has produced so many great sportsmen in each and every sport. But all the sports are not equally popular in our country.
1.CRICKET
It has been the most popular sport in India since decades. IPL (Indian Premiere League) and ICL (Indian Cricket league) are the two most popular events of Indian Cricket. India’s performance has been wonderful in Cricket. Our team has won WORLD CUP two times (1983 and 2011), T20 world cup 2007 and ICC Champions Trophy, 2013.Cricket is being looked after by BCCI, which in fact, is the richest cricket board in the world. The great players in the history of cricket are from India. Sachin Tendulkar, Saurabh Ganguly, Rahul Dravid, Kapil Dev, Anil Kumble and so on……
2. BADMINTON
It is the second most played sport in India after Cricket. Badminton Association of India manages badminton in India. Prakash Padukone is well known badminton player of India.
3. SOCCER
The national team hasn’t done well at the international level, still it is one important sport played in the country and has so many followers.
4. HOCKEY
Isn’t it shocking? Well it is. India’s hockey team has done well in the recent past. India has also won the 1975 world cup hockey tournament in Malaysia. Still we need to encourage people to value this sport more.
5. ATHLETICS
Athletics takes us back to pre-colonial era where the people engaged themselves in various track and field athletic events. We still expect a better future in this game.
6. TENNIS
This game was exported to India by the Englishmen. Who can forget the contribution of Rohan Bopanna, Mahesh Bhupati and Sania Mirza in taking tennis to a place where it is now.
7. CHESS
Talking about chess, only one person comes in our mind. Oh yes, it is Vishwanathan Anand, the person who has made Chess popular in our country.
8. TABLE TENNIS
It is a popular indoor sport. It can be played both as singles and as doubles. The Table Tennis federation of India manages table tennis in India.
9. WRESTLING
which is popular, but mainly youngsters from rural part of the country are coming forward to take this up as a career choice. THE GREAT KHALI is one such example.
10. BASKETBALL
which is not so popular in our country. It is limited to colleges only. On higher level, we haven’t done much as compared to other sports.